Before you file, the department already knows a great deal about your financial year. Two documents show you what it knows: Form 26AS and the Annual Information Statement (AIS). Reconciling your return against both is the single most effective way to avoid a notice — and it takes about ten minutes.
The core difference in one line
Form 26AS answers “how much tax has been credited against my PAN?” AIS answers “what financial activity has been reported about me?” The first is about tax. The second is about transactions.
| Form 26AS | AIS | |
|---|---|---|
| Shows | Tax credited against your PAN | Financial transactions reported about you |
| Includes | TDS, TCS, advance tax, self-assessment tax, refunds issued, some high-value transactions | Salary, interest, dividends, securities and mutual fund transactions, property purchase and sale, foreign remittances, GST turnover |
| Coverage | Only where tax was deducted or paid | Reported regardless of whether tax was deducted |
| Can you respond? | No feedback facility | Yes — transaction-level feedback |
| Best used for | Confirming your TDS credit is safe to claim | Making sure you have not missed reporting any income |
How to download both
Everything now lives on the e-filing portal:
- Log in at incometax.gov.in using your PAN and password.
- Open the e-File menu, choose Income Tax Returns, then View AIS.
- You will see tiles for AIS, TIS and Form 26AS. Open each and download the PDF or JSON.
- The AIS PDF is password protected — the password is your PAN in lower case followed by your date of birth in DDMMYYYY format. For PAN ABCDE1234F and DOB 1 January 1990, that is
abcde1234f01011990.
What to reconcile, in order
Work through these five categories — they account for the overwhelming majority of mismatches:
- Salary. The AIS salary figure should agree with the gross salary in your Form 16. If you changed jobs, check that both employers appear.
- Savings and FD interest. Banks report interest even when no TDS was deducted. Savings account interest is frequently missed by taxpayers — it is taxable, with relief available under Section 80TTA (or 80TTB for senior citizens) in the Old Regime.
- Dividends. Dividend income has been fully taxable in your hands since FY 2020-21 and is reported by every company and mutual fund. This is now one of the most common sources of under-reporting.
- Securities and mutual fund transactions. AIS lists sales reported by depositories and registrars. Every sale needs to be considered for capital gains — our capital gains calculator and capital gains guide cover the current STCG and LTCG rules.
- Property transactions. Sub-registrars report purchases and sales above the notified threshold. A property sale in the year almost always needs a capital gains computation.
How to submit feedback when AIS is wrong
AIS is compiled from third-party reporting, so errors are not unusual — a joint account attributed entirely to you, a duplicate entry from two reporting entities, or a transaction that belongs to a relative. You can respond directly:
- Open the transaction inside AIS and select Optional → feedback.
- Choose the option that fits: information is correct; not fully correct; relates to other PAN or year; duplicate or already included; denied; or customised.
- Enter the corrected value and submit. The derived value in TIS updates to reflect your feedback, while the originally reported value is retained alongside it.
Submitting feedback does not automatically change your tax liability — you still file based on your actual income. What it does is put your explanation on record before the return is processed, which is exactly what you want if the figure is ever questioned.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between AIS and Form 26AS?
Form 26AS is a tax credit statement — it shows tax deducted or paid against your PAN (TDS, TCS, advance tax, self-assessment tax and refunds). The Annual Information Statement (AIS) is much broader: it shows financial transactions reported to the department about you, including savings and FD interest, dividends, share and mutual fund transactions, property deals and foreign remittances, whether or not any tax was deducted on them.
Where do I download AIS and Form 26AS?
Both are on the Income Tax e-filing portal at incometax.gov.in. Log in with your PAN, then go to the 'e-File' menu, select 'Income Tax Returns', then 'View AIS'. From that screen you can open the AIS, the Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS), and Form 26AS. Form 26AS was historically hosted on TRACES and can still be reached through the portal.
What is TIS?
The Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) is a condensed, category-wise version of your AIS. It aggregates each information type — for example total interest, total dividend — and shows both the reported value and the derived value after taking your feedback into account. It is the quicker document to read; AIS is the transaction-level detail behind it.
What should I do if AIS shows something that is wrong?
Use the feedback facility. Open the transaction in AIS and choose the appropriate option — information is not fully correct, income relates to another person, duplicate or already included elsewhere, or denied entirely. Submit the feedback with the correct value. The derived figures in TIS update to reflect it, and the department retains both the reported and the modified value.
Do I have to report income shown in AIS that I did not receive?
No — you report your actual income. But do not simply ignore a discrepancy. If AIS shows income you genuinely did not receive, submit feedback marking it incorrect so the department has your explanation on record. Silently filing a return that contradicts AIS is what typically triggers an enquiry.
Is AIS proof of my income?
No. AIS is information reported by third parties such as banks, mutual fund registrars, sub-registrars and companies. It can contain errors, duplicates or transactions belonging to someone else. It is a cross-check tool, not evidence — your own records remain the basis of your return.
Official sources
Every figure and rule in this guide is checked against the official government sources below. Always confirm for your own situation before filing.